People are really moving along with song creation during FAWM: February Album Writing Month. If we don’t have songs, at least there are many with the concept or image for their album. You can listen to the songs as they are posted at the FAWM jukebox. If you’re interested in ukulele songs, you can type “ukulele” into the jukebox and about 3 pages of songs will play for you.

I know two ukuleleists (new word denoting one who plays ukulele) who stop by Ukulele Perspective Blog have joined FAWM with me: Gwynthesizer from Australia and Ukulelear from New York. The covers featured above are (l to r): Great Blue Heron, Ukulelear (are those the ukuleles of the students hanging across the blackboard), Gwynthesizer (all the excavated objects) and JJ from Tennessee.

Congratulations to Gwynthesizer on his two songs thus far. He is writing an album called “excavations ” inspired by objects he found while digging a sandpit for his kids. The first song, called “Hatchet” has a beautiful progression of uke chords, but I guess it’s the eerieness of the words,

see, I’m a hatchet, I’m a hatchet right?
you’d better barricade yr door and huddle out of sight
I’ll use whatever metaphors I’ve got
to show that I don’t just break hearts I chop

that make the progression, well, eerie. But there is truly something about the music that stays with you. Nicely done, Gwyn. I look forward to hearing more of his songs.

As for Ukulelear and I, neither of us has posted a song yet. It is tough, though, to think of a song a day, or in 7 days. If you’re reading this and think otherwise, then it’s not too late for you to join FAWM. It’s free.

I have a song I’ve been working on, but need to get the lyrics written (they change every time I sing the song) … well and then record it. Although I started out with an idea to capture the sights and sounds of nature in Florida, specifically the bird life, my first song will be about work. So I guess you take what the gods of Inspiration give you and work with it.

3 Responses to FAWM: Day 7

Those are my students ukes hanging on the blackboard. :) I’ve got about five or six songs writen in just lyrics. I’m running behind due to report cards, being a husband, and a dad. Just today I fell through a hatch on my dad’s wooden powerboat we were working on – in twenty degree weather. My ankle is swollen and hurts so I’m looking for that pain to help my creativity. lol I’ll keep checking in.
All the best,
Ukulelear

Thanks again for your kind words, tried to write another one last night but I was self-editing a bit too much or something…

Hope you’re feeling better soon Ukulelear. There’s definitely precendents for people writing great songs while in pain – eg. I think Neil Young wrote most of “Everybody Knows this is Nowhere” laid up in bed with a high fever. No pressure to pen the next “Cinnamon Girl” or anything :-)